Court told powerline problems existed before Black Saturday

The Victorian Supreme Court has been told there was a history of power cables clashing against each other, before a Black Saturday bushfire in the state's south-west.

A class action is being heard in Warrnambool.

The lead plaintiff in the class action is local Country Fire Authority Captain Terry Place, whose dairy farm was damaged in the fire between Weerite and Pomborneit.

More than 1,000 hectares of farmland was burnt, along with sheds and machinery.

Lawyers for Mr Place say the fire was sparked by conductors clashing between two power poles, causing multi-particles to be picked up by the wind and igniting grass.

The case went to trial in September and in closing submissions yesterday, Mr Place's lawyers said there have been multiple incidents of clashing on that powerline and the cables had marks on them from clashing.

They also said Powercor had an emphasis on reliability, not safety.

Powercor denied its assets caused the fire or that it breached duty of care.